Welcome to Newburytoday.co.uk’s message boards where you can have your say and share your views on any number of issues.

Anyone can read messages, but only registered users can post messages, reply to messages or create new topics. As part of the free and simple registration, you will be asked to read and conform to the house rules.

In the news today the Rising Sun at Stockcross is now closed for good, which comes not too long after the Lord Lyon in Stockcross also shut its doors for the last time to be turned into flats.

So I guess the question is whether pubs (especially village pubs) are now viable these days and whether it is worth saving them or whether we should just mingle in coffee shops and just buy cheap alcohol from supermarkets instead?

In the news today the Rising Sun at Stockcross is now closed for good, which comes not too long after the Lord Lyon in Stockcross also shut its doors for the last time to be turned into flats.

So I guess the question is whether pubs (especially village pubs) are now viable these days and whether it is worth saving them or whether we should just mingle in coffee shops and just buy cheap alcohol from supermarkets instead?

Any thoughts?

Interestingly there was the campaign to save the pub in Hamstead Marshall from being turned into residential property. There was much jubilation when the villagers won but it is still closed and plainly not viable. Life moves on. Pubs may be part of our heritage, but alcohol causes more problems for society than almost any other pursuit and I fail to see why pubs should be a special case.

If residents don't use the facility then they shouldn't whinge when they lose it. If you want to keep your local then use it. Far, far too many village pubs closing now.

I have been doing exactly that for the last few years, attending both my local pub and the pub in the village where I used to live once a week in each case. However, I would imagine that this is probably more of a regular attendance than most people will manage and also that even this is probably not enough to keep a pub in business.

I have been doing exactly that for the last few years, attending both my local pub and the pub in the village where I used to live once a week in each case. However, I would imagine that this is probably more of a regular attendance than most people will manage and also that even this is probably not enough to keep a pub in business.

I would imaging it has more to do with the value of the building, or the land upon which it sits ( which can be considerable when you add in the car park & beer garden ), as a site of housing than the 'viability' of the pub business itself.

Pubcos are sat on a huge landbank, much of it in very desirable locations.

The problem is and has been the demise of 'popping out for a pint' in the car, most country pubs survived on wet sales and untill the late 80's or early 90's that was fine, people would drive out, imbibe, and drive home again, even after drink driving was cracked down on people would still do it. What changed was that drink driving became socially unacceptable, after that pubs needed to rely on the food trade.

Once everyone else's doing good it became more difficult to compete, that and the advent of cheap alcohol from the supermarket has pretty much killed out of town pubs, and with increases in rateable values and rents even town pubs are having a grim time. The future is grim.

I , like many others , as a young man spent many an evening in my local socialising with friends . Now the social interaction is done via the electronic media which has killed off the right of passage element of public house patronage . Admittedly beer was under a shilling a pint and there was little in the way of an alternative but it did provide a service . If alcohol usage had decreased per capita on health grounds I doubt not to many would object but as we know consumption has increased, but via a different retail outlet . Town pubs seem to rely on large screen tv sports coverage and village ones the food experience but competition is fierce and , like petrol stations , closure of some is essential for the others to survive .

Actually the Rising Sun isn't closed for good. The current landlords - Chrissie & Dave - have closed it for good, however, they are looking for somebody to take over the contract and reopen it.

Let's hope they find someone. Its a pretty hard one these days and it's not really all just down to rent and rates. The village shop goes, the garage packs up, the pub closes as does the church - so what then defines the village? I'm not convinced that it's just down to the locals to use these things, after all the townies don't hence the town centres die. Anyone any practical ideas?

Let's hope they find someone. Its a pretty hard one these days and it's not really all just down to rent and rates. The village shop goes, the garage packs up, the pub closes as does the church - so what then defines the village? I'm not convinced that it's just down to the locals to use these things, after all the townies don't hence the town centres die. Anyone any practical ideas?

Let's hope they find someone. Its a pretty hard one these days and it's not really all just down to rent and rates. The village shop goes, the garage packs up, the pub closes as does the church - so what then defines the village? I'm not convinced that it's just down to the locals to use these things, after all the townies don't hence the town centres die. Anyone any practical ideas?

Agree. A village without a pub isn't very good. It is a place where people meet each other and make friends, especially in a village.